TRUST

Project details

Total cost:

Not available

EU contribution:

Not available

Coordinated in:

United Kingdom

Objective

The objective of TRUST was to assess the impact of the major current design methods on the testability and reliability of software. The aim was to generate software which was not only testable but, by virtue of its intrinsic structure, more reliable.The approach included investigating development method characteristics and measuring progress through the use of tools especially developed within TRUST. The objective was to assess the impact of the major current design methods on the testability and reliability of software. The aim was to generate software which was not only testable but, by virtue of its intrinsic structure, more reliable. The approach included investigating development method characteristics and measuring progress through the use of tools especially developed within the project. A survey of languages (high and low level) for real time embedded systems was completed. This survey included the identification of the characteristic features of these languages, varying between generations and levels, which impact on the ability to test real time embedded systems. These characteristics were found to include hardware and input/output support, concurrent task support, and exception handling. Analysis of source host/target communication was completed. This also identified the key features, such as speed and capacity, that are affected by host/target communication mechanisms. Surveys of software test usage and testing tools were completed. Statistics and metrics for software reliability and scope were identified, and a first analysis tool written for several assembler languages. An interactive mutation tool was developed. The following tools and prototypes were developed for use in monitoring and analysing real time systems embedded in target computers: a communication box (ComBox) which facilitates communication between software systems embedded in a target computer and a host computer; a set of modules to be incorporated into an existing testbed to provide statistical reports from statistics accumulated over many analysis runs; and 2 prototypes of efficient source code instrumentors.Results were as follows: -A survey of languages (high and low level) usable for real-time embedded systems was completed. This survey included the identification of the characteristic features of these languages, varying between generations and levels, which impact on the abilit y to adequately test real-time embedded systems. These characteristics were found to include hardware and I/O support, concurrent task support, and exception handling. -Analysis of source host/target communication was completed. This also identified the key features, such as speed and capacity, that are affected by host/target communication mechanisms. -Surveys of software test usage and testing tools were completed. -Statistics and metrics for software reliability and scope were identified, and a first analysis tool written for several assembler languages. -An interactive mutation tool was developed. The following tools and prototypes were developed for use in monitoring and analysing real-time systems embedded in target computers: -ComBox: a communication box which facilitates communication between software systems embedded in a target computer and a host computer. -Statistical Profiler: a set of modules to be incorporated into an existing testbed to provide statistical reports from statistics accumulated over many analysis runs. -CS-Testbed and IL-Testbed: two prototypes of efficient source code instrumentors. Exploitation The results of the TRUST project will help to assess the real-time and host/target aspects of software products during the test and development phases. This will provide data for management control. The prototype tools developed provide a basis for commercial products.